republic Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them
    commonwealth; democracy.
  2. noun a form of government whose head of state is not a monarch
    • the head of state in a republic is usually a president

WordNet

Re*pub"lic noun
Etymology
F. république, L. respublica commonwealth; res a thing, an affair + publicus, publica, public. See Real, a., and Public.
Definitions
  1. Common weal. Obs. B. Jonson.
  2. A state in which the sovereign power resides in the whole body of the people, and is exercised by representatives elected by them; a commonwealth. Cf. Democracy, 2. ✍ In some ancient states called republics the sovereign power was exercised by an hereditary aristocracy or a privileged few, constituting a government now distinctively called an aristocracy. In some there was a division of authority between an aristocracy and the whole body of the people except slaves. No existing republic recognizes an exclusive privilege of any class to govern, or tolerates the institution of slavery. Democratic republic, a term much used by countries with a Communist system of government.

Webster 1913